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  <title>Sort Criteria Element</title>


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<h1>SortElement</h1>

<p>A sort definition consisting of an expression and sort
direction.</p>

<h3>Description</h3>

<p>Report sorting and group sorting is defined as a series of
column, sort direction pairs. Each pair is a Sort Criteria structure.</p>

<h3>See Also</h3>

<h2 class="property">key</h2>

<p>An expression that gives the sort key on which to sort.</p>

<h3>Description</h3>

<p>An expression that gives the sort key on which to sort. The
simplest case is the name of a column. The expression can also be an
expression that includes columns. When used for a group, the expression
can contain an aggregate computed over the group.</p>

<p>Expressions that include only a column name are candidates for
"pushing" into the data set. However, sort keys that are expressions
must be evaluated within BIRT, and so the sorting itself must occur
within BIRT.</p>

<h3>See Also</h3>

<h2 class="property">direction</h2>

<p>The sort direction: Ascending (the default) or Descending.</p>

<h3>Choices</h3>

<ul>

  <li>asc: Sort values from lowest to highest.</li>

  <li>desc: Sort values from highest to lowest.</li>

</ul>

<h3>Description</h3>

<p>The sort direction: Ascending (the default) or Descending.</p>

<h3>See Also</h3>
<br>
<h2 class="property">locale</h2>

<p>The locale for this sort.</p>
<h3>Description</h3>

<p>The locale for this sort.</p>

<h2 class="property">strength</h2>

<p>The strength of this sort collation.</p>
<h3>Description</h3>

<p>The strength of this sort collation. The default value is -1.</p>

<h3>See Also</h3>

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